Jew Bill (Maryland)

The Jew Bill (more formally, "An Act to extend to the sect of people professing the Jewish religion, the same rights and privileges enjoyed by Christians") was passed in 1826 by the Maryland General Assembly to allow Jews to hold public office in the state.

The bill was passed on January 5, 1826, "after a long and arduous struggle."[1] It altered the state's Test Act to allow members of the Jewish faith to hold public office upon swearing to a belief in "the doctrine of reward and punishment" rather than the generally required declaration of belief in Christianity. The fight to pass it was led in the early 1820s by Jacob I. Cohen Jr. (1789–1869) and Solomon Etting (1764–1847), who subsequently ran successfully for Baltimore City Council and became the first Jews to hold elected office in Maryland.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Eitches, Edwards (June 1971). "Maryland's "Jew Bill"". American Jewish Historical Quarterly 60 (1-4): 258–78.
  2. ↑ Wiernik, Peter (1912). History of the Jews in America: From the Period of the Discovery of the New World to the Present Time. New York: Jewish Press Publishing Company. p. 127.